The decision came after a legal battle between NASA and a Chicago lawyer who bought the bag of dust in 2015 for only $995, the Chicago Tribune reported.

According to the paper, the lunar bag was mistakenly sold to Nancy Lee Carlson after a mix-up handed it to U.S. Justice Department for an unrelated investigation, which, in turn, auctioned it for the lower price. Carlson, a space enthusiast and collector, sent the bag to NASA for testing.

When results revealed traces of moon dust on the fabric, the history of the bag was uncovered, and the space agency refused to hand it back to its owner.

"This artifact was never meant to be owned by an individual," NASA said in a statement at the time. "We believe [it] belongs to the American people and should be on display for the public, which is where it was before all of these unfortunate events occurred."

But Carlson won the court battle against the agency, which was forced to return it to her in February 2017 to be auctioned off again.

The auction took place at Sotheby's in New York, where it had been expected to sell for $2 million to $4 million.